| Publication: | The Daily Telegraph |
|---|---|
| Date: | 5 February 2010 |
| Section: | News |
Sue Dunlevy
Article excerpt:
PRIVATELY insured patients are paying 30 to 70 per cent more for medical devices such as pacemakers, stents and artificial joints than public hospitals and patients overseas.
These devices are costing health funds $1 billion a year but there is no check to ensure that patients are getting the most cost-effective devices, a new study for the nation's largest health fund has found.
Medibank Private is using the study to push for changes to the way the Federal Government sets the level of benefits for medical devices. If adopted, some of the proposed changes could see consumers paying more if expensive but clinically inappropriate devices were used in their surgery.
... Associate Professor Andrew MacIsaacs from the Cardiac Society of Australia said studies showed there was less renarrowing of the arteries after surgery with the expensive stent.
"There are patients who benefit significantly from having these stents and I don't think it's appropriate they are forced to have a premium to have the appropriate treatment," he said.
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